Anti-Money Laundering
Training and resources
Money laundering is the process of cleaning money which has been gained from criminal activity so that it appears to have been acquired legitimately.
European Parliament passed the Fifth Money Laundering Directive in 2018 which was transposed into national UK legislation in January 2020. This page offers everything you need to know.
Register with HMRC
HMRC ensure that companies under their supervision comply with the legislation and maintain a register of their supervised population. You can apply to register for money laundering supervision or use the link to update your money laundering supervision with HMRC.
Version for property agents
How to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations
It’s a criminal offence to trade as an estate agency business, or letting agency business handling high-value transactions, without being registered with HMRC for money laundering supervision. Make sure you know the rules, risks and ensure that criminal gangs or unscrupulous individuals are not using your business to exploit their ill-gotten gains.
AML resources for members
Fact sheet: Money Laundering Regulations
The aim of the legislation is to reduce money laundering and increase the transparency of business operations in the UK. More recent regulations have been largely driven in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where the focus has been on overseas actors.
Fact sheet: UK sanctions reporting obligations
Under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, the UK Government introduced a new regime of issuing financial sanctions following the UK’s departure from the European Union. Under the Act, businesses specified in the Act have to report to the OFSI if they suspect they are engaging with a client who is under financial sanctions.
Fact Sheet: UK Sanctions Reporting Obligations for High Value Dealers
Under the Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Act 2018, the UK Government introduced a new regime of issuing financial sanctions following the UK’s departure from the European Union. Under the Act, businesses specified in the Act have to report to Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI) if they suspect they are engaging with a client who is under financial sanctions.
Fact sheet: Writing an AML risk assessment
Under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 (the MLRs) all Estate Agency Businesses and Letting Agency Businesses with properties that have a monthly rent that is the equivalent to 10,000 Euros or more, must produce a risk assessment.
Fact Sheet: Landlord payment requests
This guidance note helps members understand the steps they should take when a client requests payments to be made into a new account. This will support agents in protecting landlords who may have been compromised and in avoiding potential penalties from HMRC.
FAQs: Economic Crime Levy (UK)
The levy was announced at Budget 2020 and the Economic Crime (Anti-Money Laundering) Levy Regulations 2022 were published on 11 March 2022. The Regulations came into force on 1 April 2022.
FAQs: Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023
The Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act was introduced through emergency powers, and the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 represents a long-term commitment to addressing economic crime in the UK to increase transparency in the ownership and operation of UK businesses.
